Qaugtat – Barnacles Qaugtat ilait allrani angtaartut. – Some barnacles are sometimes large. Barnacles are one of the oldest living species on earth and a familiar resident of Alaska’s shores. These filter-feeding crustaceans typically live in shallow waters and will grow on just about anything–rocks, shellfish, docks, boats, marine debris, and even sea mammals. Whales […]
Ugnerkaq – Spring Ugnerkartuq awa’i. – Spring is here. Spring is an unpredictable season in the Kodiak Archipelago. Some years, calm weather ushers in longer days and milder temperatures, but in others, winter storms pound the coast and snow falls well into April. For Alutiiqs, spring is a time of waiting as the subsistence cycle […]
Skuunaq (schooner); Raa’uciq (sailboat) – Ship Skuunaq tang’rk’gka. – I saw the ship. Sailing ships were a common sight in Kodiak waters in the historic era. Russian traders traveled to Alaska aboard wooden vessels that carried men, provisions, weapons, and smaller boats for coastal exploration. The Alutiiq word for ship, skuunaq, comes from the word […]
IPUK – SNAIL IPUT YAAMAT ACAATNI ETAARTUT. – SNAILS ARE ALWAYS UNDER THE ROCKS. Snails, particularly the periwinkle (Littorina sitkana), are common residents of Kodiak’s intertidal waters. These slow-creeping marine invertebrates are members of the gastropod family, a group that includes both snails and slugs. Periwinkles inhabit the rocky beaches of the North American Pacific […]